Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2016 18:27:15 GMT
[Thread Pl: 16802] [Heavy Weights: ON] [Current Pl: 4200]
It had been a while since the young android had been here. It wasn't the best experience in his life, but when it came to the cave where his conception happened, it was quite an emotional experience; even for the android. The android never needed to sleep ever, his energy being mostly infinite, but his father still put him back in the pod where he was created that night. Griffon told him that he was to be performing minor alterations to make Sei more human which Sei of course obliged. He was turned off in the middle of the night and when he woke up in his pod, he assumed it was all corrected. Releasing the inner latch to the pod, the android stepped out when he realized he was turned back on but was still in the pod. Looking around, he realized quickly that the doctor was here. It was a pretty small space they were in, so he didn't have to look very hard. Walking over to the lab table, it was clear there was a note that was for the android on the table. Picking the note up, he read it nearly instantaneously, but he went over it a hundred times.
Sei, the android, was floating in the middle of the air above the cave where he was created. He had been mostly around the world and met a couple of different people, some a lot more interesting than others. Once he left the cave, it was never his intention to find the doctor that created him. In fact, he was much more driven to complete the goal that had been left for him. No where in the note did it ask for Sei's help, or even a location for him to be found at, so the android had taken that as a "leave me alone, let me do this" kind of thing. However, after going to West Capitol and meeting with one of Earth's strongest warriors, Reikiko, she had given him an interesting answer to the questions he posed to her. It was a matter of duty to her, like it was to all that had wanted to save the Earth. Most were not doing it for themselves, but for the sake of others. This answer had resonated with Sei in the most fascinating way. After their meetup, the android decided he would blast off back to his home cave, which is where he was now.
After floating for a while, the android decided to sit atop the cliff that hung over the now blocked entrance. There were many thoughts floating through his perplexed mind, the foremost being whether or not he should really do this. He had been rationalizing it in his mind through different ways.It was a small cave, only one totally room of a couple hundred square feet. There was a pod which Sei was mostly made in, a super computer hooked up to it, a lab desk, a small recreational area, and a fridge and restroom. The idea was that Griffon would make his final project and then if he failed, he would blow up the place, effectively killing himself and what would be evil Sei. It never had to come to that, which the both of them were grateful for, and thus the room would stay here, only touched by time.
Looking around, Sei would open the desk and see a few journals as well as some notes. Flipping through, the android tried his hardest to not look at any sensitive information besides where his creator had lived before the cave. After a few minutes, Sei had found that it could possibly be North Capitol, as well as finding his fathers old address. Truly a success, he put back the journal and was careful to close the drawer in case his father would come back and find he had been snooping around. Moving towards the exit, Sei looked back to the cave. Memories came flooding back, mainly due to him remembering it all, but also due to the nostalgia. The next time he came back, it would be with his father or not at all. Giving a slight nod to the cave, the young android headed back outside and pushed the rock back in place. It was much more difficult to do with his increased weight, but he still managed with little struggle.
Sei gave a small sigh as he closed his eyes in the hallway, trying to see if he could catch a bit of sleep, even while he was technically at work. His entire body hurt from the endeavors of the last few days, and the talk with She Who Watches had not helped things in the slightest. Everything about that encounter had been incredibly surreal, and he had no idea what had even happened, then. That wasn't true- he did. He remembered every event with such a stunning visual clarity that he often had begun to wonder if his life up until that point had simply been the dream and he was then living in reality for the briefest of moments.
Every part of his mind seemed to be rather...broken, since that day. He found himself unable to sleep, unable to think, stoppered in most of his every day tasks simply because of the fact that every time his thoughts wandered, they went to that one experience. He hadn't ever felt anything like that and the worst part about the entire thing was, is that he had been so very resistant to her words and her charms while he had been speaking to her, but now that things were over with and she was gone, he found himself desperately craving that presence once more in his life.
“Hey hey. Sleeping on the job?”
Sei heard a voice call, and he opened his eyes to see Jazz moving past. The fellow was cheery as always, something that the android had grown steadily less fond of over the last few days. “Man you look like shit,” Jazz spoke as he paused to look Sei over. “Stress of the job getting to you or anything, or you just not feeling well?” It was odd that he was asking these questions, at least to the android's point of view. They were merely using these students to keep the peace so they didn't have to. It was almost as a forced slave labor, save for the fact that they did get paid for it.
Still, he knew that the girl was relatively harmless, at least as far as his personality went. “Not sleeping. Just resting. I've had difficulty sleeping or thinking lately. I don't know what's wrong,” Sei lied, his gaze moving to the man. “Not sure what's causing it.” He didn't really feel like getting into things with Jazar about the fact that he'd contacted an otherworldly entity and was having both impure thoughts about it as well as the fact that he didn't know if he could get through the day without seeing her once again. It wasn't exactly healthy conversation to have with who was considered your boss.
“I know that feeling. I've been there a whole shit ton before,” Jazar responded, giving the young man a nod. “Not much you can do about it, either. Once you get a lot of shit on the brain, it's hard to push it all away or you're going to find yourself too distracted to even handle every day life.” The man glanced over his shoulder then, before he looked back to Alex. “You could always train yourself to exhaustion. That's about what I used to do in those situations. Can't think too much when you're training and eventually you'll just find yourself passed out at home somewhere. It's not a bad tradeoff.”
Sei gave a small sound. The gravity chamber had been when he'd last contacted She Who Watches, and he wasn't certain that if he went back in there that he'd be able to stop himself from reaching out to her again. But all things considered, he would have to- what Jazz was saying was definitely correct. If he pushed himself far beyond his normal limits, he wouldn't have the ability to stay awake as his body would demand that he sleep. “Maybe I'll give that a shot after I'm done here,” the man continued, not entirely certain if Jazz was telling him to go now, but he didn't want to deny his job for the moment.
The taller male gave a small laugh then. “Man you're the hardest worker we got, for real. Anyway, that's fine, yeah. Just finish out your day and then hit up the gravity chamber after you're done. Also I heard that you ended up trouncing Nate. That puts you up into the top ten. Just keep working at it and you'll be able to maybe stand on my level someday,” the man said, giving a small laugh as he wandered off, giving a small chuckle as he did so. Alexander watched him go, before he returned his gaze back to the floor and once more closed his eyes, letting his Void Sense indicate if there was anything weird happening around the school.
As he listened, he felt a presence stirring nearby. There was a strange outflux of Void from an area, which he had learned to indicate was simply an influx of ki. He could feel it off to his right, and connected the dots that someone was likely powering themselves up. They were drawing ki from within themselves to an outward push, to build up their strength and to also manifest it into something more than it was. He opened one eye to look, not bothering to open both if it was something that he didn't need to as he saw the young man standing a good distance away from him.
His right hand was held out, palm facing Alexander as his ki took on physical form. “I wouldn't recommend you do that,” Sei spoke, not really bothering to say much more than that as he watched the other. “It's not something you should do on school grounds like this,” he continued. He wasn't particularly frightened of the fighter. Since his meeting with She Who Watches, he felt his power increasing greatly each day, simply by leaps and bounds and he was actually fairly certain that he could have been able to take on Jazz if the two fought again.
The other didn't back off, however, simply still charging that energy in his hand. Sei was curious if he was actually going to fire that blast right here, in the middle of the school or not. The young robed android moved to open his eyes then as he looked the fellow over. “Oh. You're number nine on the list,” he spoke as he looked the fellow over. He wasn't particularly impressive, at least not to Sei. The amount of void in him was still relatively high, and as such, he knew that the ki amount was still quite...low. “I don't see what you stand to gain from challenging me. I should be the one challenging you.”
“I just feel the need to knock you down a few pegs. That's all,” the other spoke, watching Sei. “You're new here and you're making waves. I don't like waves,” the man continued. “So I don't really need to have a reason beyond that to fight you. Do I?” he asked, and as he talked, Sei tried to place the name with the face. He wasn't entirely certain what his name was...and that just made this situation all the more amusing for him. “Unless you're just gonna back down right now and prove to everyone that you're just a coward.
The android gave a small shake of his head. “Of course not. I don't have any need to retreat from you. But I'm also not going to fight you out here,” he spoke, watching the other as he continued. “If you want to fight, we'll do so where it's safe for the school.” He didn't really have to announce where. The gravity chamber was the one place where it was safe to fight all out. Its walls were ki-resistant, and it was built solidly enough to resist attacks from just about everyone. Alexander hadn't been able to damage the walls in the slightest, in all the time he'd been there.
The other gave a small grunt, before he eventually let the energy dissipate into the air. “All right. I'll see you there,” he said simply, before turning smartly on his heel and moving back through the school, finding his own way to the gravity chamber. Sei let out a small sigh of frustration as he shook his head. He just wanted to get some rest today but that didn't seem to be on the agenda for him, not that he minded. He would just do what he could do to put that other one down on the ground and then after he was done, finish off whatever other training he felt that he needed before heading home. Hopefully at that point, he'd be able to finally sleep.
His eyes closed for another moment, finally relishing the chance to get a little bit of rest before the day's end. Of course, that's when the bell began to sound, echoing throughout the school, and the android gave a small sound of irritation. Of course. He stood up to his full height, cracking his neck once to try and send a sensation of something through his body to force himself to stay awake for at least a little bit longer. It was difficult for him to say for certain if the entire day was planned around just screwing with him for its entirety, or if he was just having some supremely poor luck. It was probably the latter, but he had no idea just how much influence She Who Watches had in his life.
He rolled his shoulders then as he watched the students pass before him, most of them ignoring him, but he got the occasional sidelong glance from some of them as they passed by. His eyes closed again, merely feeling their presence as he tried to let them all pass unmolested as he didn't want to have to deal with anything else before his own battle that was supposedly about to happen. He felt a flash of movement with his void sense, and opened his eye to see a fist heading toward him. There was no mental reaction from him, simply just his muscles responding to what he saw.
His hand snapped up and caught the transgressor's fist, holding it in place before he clenched his hand, causing audible dry cracking noises to echo throughout the hallway. “Go to the infirmary,” Sei demanded as he watched the boy stumble backward, giving a muted cry, holding his hand from where Sei had broken it. “Your hand is broken.” His tone was even, but to those around him, it seemed to instill a slight sense of fear and he noted that many of them were beginning to move a little more quickly away from him, now. Good. That'd let his day end faster once they were all out of his way. He gave a small sound as he watched the rest of them depart, and soon, the hallways were empty.
“All right. Time to go see about a fight,” the man spoke as he pushed himself off of the wall. The weighted coat he wore still accompanied him, and he made his way through the hallways, heading directly for the gravity chamber. The sooner he was there and the sooner this fight was over, then he could really start to focus on pushing himself too hard. It was a strange line of thought for him, as he'd never been excited about pushing his body too hard. Normally he attempted to stay relatively light so he wouldn't cause any serious harm to his body.
His eyes flickered to the side as he saw some of the other students still leaving, but his zone was cleared. He wondered how some of the other monitors handled things, and if they had any real attachment to their wards. The young android had when he'd first started, but this thing that had begun to happen with him...all thanks to Ayumu...had really started to change the way he looked at a lot of things. He had initially been poised to see if he could take the school over just to see if he could, but now he was rapidly losing interest in doing such. Even still, it had been a goal he'd set, and he recalled that talk he'd had with about such things. Goals were to be set, and to be achieved. Even if your interests and views change, your goals should always remain constant...and he supposed that going up against the guy would be a good test of his power, eventually.
Pausing at the door, he hesitated for only a moment before lifting a hand to open it, pushing the door open as he passed through. On the other side waited the fighter that had been in the hallway, who looked more than a little surprised that Alex had actually shown up. “Sooner than I'd expected you to show up,” the boy spoke, and Sei merely gave a shrug as he set his bag down in the corner, before turning to face him again. “Before we get to it, there's something that I do have to ask you, and it's relatively important.”
The words were quite serious, and Sei gave a small sound, confused. “All right,” he responded evenly, his emerald-eyed gaze on the other. This was not something that he had expected. In honesty, he had expected to get blasted with energy as soon as he'd opened the door, but it appeared that the other wasn't going to resort to such methods in order to win a fight. Sei wasn't certain that others wouldn't stoop to that level, but he was rather glad that this one wasn't, at least. It would make things far easier in the future if the android beat his face in. He wouldn't have to worry about getting jumped from behind later, if he was displaying this level of honor now.
“Well I suppose it's two questions, though one is less important than the other. The less important one is just a curiosity, but leads to the second. Do you even know my name?” he asked, and the Void-user had to give a small sound. He did not, and while he could hazard a guess, he felt that it was much more honest to simply admit the truth. He shook his head slowly, and an amused, though irritated, smirk, appeared on the other's face. “I see. I should have expected that. William. William Waltz. It is good to meet you, Sei, the android.”
The robed android gave a small sound. “I suppose it is good to meet you as well, William Waltz,” he responded, using the full name as he had been addressed. “You are number nine on the list of the strongest in the school, am I right?” he returned, curious. He hoped that he was thinking of the right person, at least. If he wasn't, then it would make it even more obvious that he really had no idea who the person standing before him even was. However, the fellow shook his head, and Alex felt a strange sense of sadness mixed with irritation.
“Not quite, though that does make the second question less in need of an answer, as that answers it fairly well already. I was curious as to how much you put stock into this school, and its hierarchy. Everyone else climbs up the ranks, struggling to get even one step closer, but you've cleared several in almost no time at all. You're not the same as the rest of us. And that's why I think that I should step in and put an end to you. I'm the fifth strongest, Alexander. The top five are on a whole different playing field than the rest. This will let the others know just what you're capable of.”
Sei's eyes widened a little, not realizing that this one was someone who was going to be able to actually pose a threat to him, or so he surmised. He supposed that made sense as to how hew as able to build that ki attack as quickly as he had. He didn't bother to comment on that incident in the hallway, but instead moved to refocus his conversation on the situation they were in right now. "I see. Well then, I suppose I will have to do my very best to give you my all. I wouldn't want you to give back a false report to your superiors," he spoke, the tone taking on a slightly darker edge than he normally held. His right arm extended outward as the ethereal energy of the Void began to surround it.
William did not seem to be impressed at all in the slightest as he watched, curious as to what Alexander was doing. "I had heard that you used something other than ki...but I did not think that I would get to see it so early. I had assumed this was your trump card, not something that you relied on in every fight," he spoke, and took a stance of his own. Sei's stance was virtually nonexistent. The more he used the Void, the less he realized he was relying on actual style and technique over raw power. It was a strange sense for him, but he wasn't about to stop the focus on it, at least not yet. It hadn't served him wrong so far, and so he planned to carry it as far as he needed to.
"You said you planned to bring back a report to your superiors. If I show you my full power at the outset then they'll know already that they're outmatched," Sei spoke, letting his gaze rest for a moment on William. There was no arrogance in his words, just a cold certainty. He watched the other then, his arm tightening as he let the power flow through it. His entire form felt lighter as soon as he let in the power of the Void. It was something that he was starting to become rather fond of, as much as he didn't really want to admit it. His body began to thrum with energy as he continued. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, baiting the other onward.
The young man gave a small sound. "Fine then," William spoke, before he whipped his arm forward, firing off a blast of raw ki, aimed at Sei's chest. The android merely moved his right arm as the blast approached, catching it with his void-covered arm. The blast slammed into his palm as he caught it, and he felt the power radiating outward from it. It was definitely a powerful attack, and he was a little amazed at the might behind it...but it did not bypass Sei's guard. No, instead, the attack, much like others, simply began to wither away as the darkness from his arm wrapped around it, consuming the ki like a voracious predator. It covered the attacking blast, reducing it to that strange, grey liquid that splashed against the ground, sending up small tendrils of smoke. It couldn't quite eat through the ground, which simply showed just how powerful the gravity chamber was.
Sei's gaze flickered from the devoured ground up to William's face, watching in cold amusement at the look of shock that was on his face. "Well then. I suppose that shows you exactly what my gifts can do," Alex spoke, before he clenched his hand, causing the rest of the ki to simply burst into energy, evaporating around them as his hand continued to be wreathed in the Void. "Though I suppose it's my turn to attack, isn't it?" he asked, watching as William began to guard himself, waiting for something to come. The android would extended out his hand, his five fingers separated as he held them out, all pointing toward his target. With a sudden rush of void, the energy burst forth from his fingertips, lancing forward.
William moved then, his body being pierced through by the attack, before his image faded, and Sei's vision was drawn a short distance away, to where William stood. The man looked fine, and so whatever he'd used to dodge must have been something that let him move nearly faster than the eye could follow. An impressive trick. "Not bad," The young android spoke as he turned his head to look at him. "But I wonder how often you can keep that up," he spoke, firing another blast of raw void from his hand at the man. Once more, an after-image remained behind as the other flickered away. Sei frowned as he watched, curious to see if William actually could keep that up time and time again.
He moved, firing yet another bolt of void energy at him, but whatever physical form he thought he'd seen did not last, simply fading away as the others hand. "You're slow." The words came from behind him then, as Sei suddenly felt a crushing blow on his back, sending him stumbling forward. He felt the attack continue as his legs were suddenly swept out from under him. Still, Sei didn't let that end him as he turned in the air, catching the ground with his fingertips before he pushed off the ground, landing a short distance away, staring at William. "That's an interesting thing to note. I wonder if the have any idea just how slow you are. Perhaps you should try to react a little more quickly?"
Sei gave a frown as he gathered that energy in his arm again. "I see. So you avoid combat by moving around and criticize those that don't follow the same style that you do." His gaze moved down to his arm as he felt more and more void being pulled out of himself then. He wasn't anywhere near enough to awaken She Who Watches, but he was tempted to. Instead, he rolled his shoulder. "If the volley wasn't enough to take you down...then perhaps a salvo will be," he growled as he thrust his arm outward again.However, rather than there being just one blast as there had been before, the attack was split into dozens of smaller blasts that all forked outward, like lightning as they struck against the wall.
William gave a small grunt of pain as one of them lanced through his arm, and then another his leg. He had moved, but not quickly enough to avoid the full barrage. His arms began to glow with ki as he forced both of his hands forward, unleashing a barrage of energy at Sei, aiming to cut through the Void Salvo and deal just as much damage in return. The young man gave a bit of a holler as he did so, firing off blast after blast within the room. This was definitely one of the strongest attacks that the young android had fought against before, and even as he let the void cover him, he could feel the attacks piercing through his guard, leaving him just as winded and damaged as his opponent.
"Interesting," Sei spoke as the barrage finally came down. He watched as William panted, struggling for breath now as he tried to get wind back into his lungs after that assault. "You do have to put out a great deal more...effort than I do to achieve a similar result. I wonder if you'd be able to dodge in your condition," he spoke. HIs body was wracked with pain, but he wasn't going to let on to that fact. The moment that he showed his foe that hew as also in pain was the moment he gave William hope. And he couldn't do such if he was going to show him just who was superior, and why. "Let's test this little...theory," he responded, extending his hand outward as the void began to gather there once more. He fired a raw blast of the void directly at William, curious to see if he could even avoid in the condition he was in.
Amazingly, the blast did miss, and Sei gave a small tut in response, not exactly amused by this fact. "Interesting," he repeated, his eyes narrowing a bit. "I suppose it will take more than that to shut you down, won't it?" he asked. Before waiting for a response, he darted forward, pulling back the void-covered arm before he brought it forward, aiming to slam his fist into the other's jaw. There was a slight pause as his fist nearly connected, but once more, that damned after-image technique caused the attack to go wide. He followed, using his void sense to track the man's location as he followed him, now hot on his trail. As soon as William finished moving, Sei was there, leading to him having to dart away again, leaving behind a series of after-images.
However, as the young android watched, he began to see the pattern in the movements, subtle though it was. A slight variation here and there, but as he chased the other down, and he could sense that he was getting more and more exhausted by the moment while Sei, not relying on his own power, stayed just fine. He moved to where he knew William would go next, and threw his knee forward, just as William would land. As he had suspected, the blow struck the other right in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain as he flew backward, slamming into the far wall. Sei watched, amused as blood seemed to trickle from the corner of his mouth. "Playtime is over," he announced.
William panted, struggling to get up to his feet after that attack he'd just taken, moving to brace his ribs with one hand. "What are you going to do?" he asked, wheezing slightly as he watched. "Kill me?" he asked, curious. He didn't know if that was the plan at all, but something told him that Sei might, without realizing what he was doing. He hoped to perhaps bring it to light by announcing it aloud, rather than leaving it in the depths of their minds. "That would fit the path that you're on, after all..." the man spoke, coughing again as a bit of blood seeped out from between his teeth. The android had broken something internally. Not that he particularly cared...but it was still an amusing thought.
The young android shook his head then. "How could you go back to your superiors and tell them anything if I killed you?" he asked, watching with the same cold expression he'd worn the entire time. His hand still thrummed with that energy as the void continued to roll off of him in waves. The dark energy was something that he was beginning to just...utilize more and more, and while before it was something that caused him nothing but harm, the more he did it, the stronger he seemed to feel, until at this point, he almost felt like this was normal. That he should have this power to lord over those weaker than he was. The pain that he normally felt when pulling on the Void was all but gone. He wondered when that change had happened...but he didn't particularly care. He liked this. "You've seen what I can do. Go and tell them. I want to know what their reaction is."
The words fell, and for several moments there was no response. The only sound in the air was William's wheezing as he struggled to breathe. Eventually, the other stood, sliding up against the wall as he watched Sei. "I see," he panted out, leaning against the wall for support. "You don't know how strong you actually are...and you're just using our school to find out. What the hell is wrong with you?" he snarled, even though the motion made him cough a moment later, spitting up more blood from his innards. "You're a monster," he continued, his eyes closed as he tried to get the air to his lungs, even though each breath seemed like it was taking more away.
At his words, Sei gave a small shrug. "Perhaps. I don't really know what waits for me at the end of this path I walk. But I will walk it, as I have no other path to go," he spoke, his tone just as icy and cold as it had been the rest of the time. Speaking it aloud gave him some interesting insight into things, and what he planned to do. He had no idea that this was the path that he'd chosen, but saying it aloud, he realized this is exactly what he was going to do. This was the path that he'd chosen to walk, and he would follow the spiral to its ending- he would go where no one had been before. Ayumu hadn't seemed to have given himself completely over to this power but...he felt like he should.
Of course, it was entirely due to the visitation of She Who Watches, he knew. He knew that down to the deepest core of his being that no matter how much he tried to put her out of his mind, she was there, and it was entirely likely that she was still watching him too, even now. She was waiting for him to make that decision, and she would be the one to lead him along the path. But he wanted to follow her, to learn from her, to draw upon her powre to use in his battles. She was the only one that had given him that insight into what path he should walk and he did not want to turn that away.
William gave another grunt as he took a stumbling step toward the door. "You are a monster," he repeated, making his way toward the door as he did so. He pressed the button to open the door, not bothering to shut off the gravity. "Whatever we have to do to stop you, we will," he muttered, limping as he made his way out.
The young android watched him go, realizing that he now had laid claim to the fifth spot. "I look forward to it."
[Thread Exit] [PL please]
It had been a while since the young android had been here. It wasn't the best experience in his life, but when it came to the cave where his conception happened, it was quite an emotional experience; even for the android. The android never needed to sleep ever, his energy being mostly infinite, but his father still put him back in the pod where he was created that night. Griffon told him that he was to be performing minor alterations to make Sei more human which Sei of course obliged. He was turned off in the middle of the night and when he woke up in his pod, he assumed it was all corrected. Releasing the inner latch to the pod, the android stepped out when he realized he was turned back on but was still in the pod. Looking around, he realized quickly that the doctor was here. It was a pretty small space they were in, so he didn't have to look very hard. Walking over to the lab table, it was clear there was a note that was for the android on the table. Picking the note up, he read it nearly instantaneously, but he went over it a hundred times.
Sei, the android, was floating in the middle of the air above the cave where he was created. He had been mostly around the world and met a couple of different people, some a lot more interesting than others. Once he left the cave, it was never his intention to find the doctor that created him. In fact, he was much more driven to complete the goal that had been left for him. No where in the note did it ask for Sei's help, or even a location for him to be found at, so the android had taken that as a "leave me alone, let me do this" kind of thing. However, after going to West Capitol and meeting with one of Earth's strongest warriors, Reikiko, she had given him an interesting answer to the questions he posed to her. It was a matter of duty to her, like it was to all that had wanted to save the Earth. Most were not doing it for themselves, but for the sake of others. This answer had resonated with Sei in the most fascinating way. After their meetup, the android decided he would blast off back to his home cave, which is where he was now.
After floating for a while, the android decided to sit atop the cliff that hung over the now blocked entrance. There were many thoughts floating through his perplexed mind, the foremost being whether or not he should really do this. He had been rationalizing it in his mind through different ways.It was a small cave, only one totally room of a couple hundred square feet. There was a pod which Sei was mostly made in, a super computer hooked up to it, a lab desk, a small recreational area, and a fridge and restroom. The idea was that Griffon would make his final project and then if he failed, he would blow up the place, effectively killing himself and what would be evil Sei. It never had to come to that, which the both of them were grateful for, and thus the room would stay here, only touched by time.
Looking around, Sei would open the desk and see a few journals as well as some notes. Flipping through, the android tried his hardest to not look at any sensitive information besides where his creator had lived before the cave. After a few minutes, Sei had found that it could possibly be North Capitol, as well as finding his fathers old address. Truly a success, he put back the journal and was careful to close the drawer in case his father would come back and find he had been snooping around. Moving towards the exit, Sei looked back to the cave. Memories came flooding back, mainly due to him remembering it all, but also due to the nostalgia. The next time he came back, it would be with his father or not at all. Giving a slight nod to the cave, the young android headed back outside and pushed the rock back in place. It was much more difficult to do with his increased weight, but he still managed with little struggle.
Sei gave a small sigh as he closed his eyes in the hallway, trying to see if he could catch a bit of sleep, even while he was technically at work. His entire body hurt from the endeavors of the last few days, and the talk with She Who Watches had not helped things in the slightest. Everything about that encounter had been incredibly surreal, and he had no idea what had even happened, then. That wasn't true- he did. He remembered every event with such a stunning visual clarity that he often had begun to wonder if his life up until that point had simply been the dream and he was then living in reality for the briefest of moments.
Every part of his mind seemed to be rather...broken, since that day. He found himself unable to sleep, unable to think, stoppered in most of his every day tasks simply because of the fact that every time his thoughts wandered, they went to that one experience. He hadn't ever felt anything like that and the worst part about the entire thing was, is that he had been so very resistant to her words and her charms while he had been speaking to her, but now that things were over with and she was gone, he found himself desperately craving that presence once more in his life.
“Hey hey. Sleeping on the job?”
Sei heard a voice call, and he opened his eyes to see Jazz moving past. The fellow was cheery as always, something that the android had grown steadily less fond of over the last few days. “Man you look like shit,” Jazz spoke as he paused to look Sei over. “Stress of the job getting to you or anything, or you just not feeling well?” It was odd that he was asking these questions, at least to the android's point of view. They were merely using these students to keep the peace so they didn't have to. It was almost as a forced slave labor, save for the fact that they did get paid for it.
Still, he knew that the girl was relatively harmless, at least as far as his personality went. “Not sleeping. Just resting. I've had difficulty sleeping or thinking lately. I don't know what's wrong,” Sei lied, his gaze moving to the man. “Not sure what's causing it.” He didn't really feel like getting into things with Jazar about the fact that he'd contacted an otherworldly entity and was having both impure thoughts about it as well as the fact that he didn't know if he could get through the day without seeing her once again. It wasn't exactly healthy conversation to have with who was considered your boss.
“I know that feeling. I've been there a whole shit ton before,” Jazar responded, giving the young man a nod. “Not much you can do about it, either. Once you get a lot of shit on the brain, it's hard to push it all away or you're going to find yourself too distracted to even handle every day life.” The man glanced over his shoulder then, before he looked back to Alex. “You could always train yourself to exhaustion. That's about what I used to do in those situations. Can't think too much when you're training and eventually you'll just find yourself passed out at home somewhere. It's not a bad tradeoff.”
Sei gave a small sound. The gravity chamber had been when he'd last contacted She Who Watches, and he wasn't certain that if he went back in there that he'd be able to stop himself from reaching out to her again. But all things considered, he would have to- what Jazz was saying was definitely correct. If he pushed himself far beyond his normal limits, he wouldn't have the ability to stay awake as his body would demand that he sleep. “Maybe I'll give that a shot after I'm done here,” the man continued, not entirely certain if Jazz was telling him to go now, but he didn't want to deny his job for the moment.
The taller male gave a small laugh then. “Man you're the hardest worker we got, for real. Anyway, that's fine, yeah. Just finish out your day and then hit up the gravity chamber after you're done. Also I heard that you ended up trouncing Nate. That puts you up into the top ten. Just keep working at it and you'll be able to maybe stand on my level someday,” the man said, giving a small laugh as he wandered off, giving a small chuckle as he did so. Alexander watched him go, before he returned his gaze back to the floor and once more closed his eyes, letting his Void Sense indicate if there was anything weird happening around the school.
As he listened, he felt a presence stirring nearby. There was a strange outflux of Void from an area, which he had learned to indicate was simply an influx of ki. He could feel it off to his right, and connected the dots that someone was likely powering themselves up. They were drawing ki from within themselves to an outward push, to build up their strength and to also manifest it into something more than it was. He opened one eye to look, not bothering to open both if it was something that he didn't need to as he saw the young man standing a good distance away from him.
His right hand was held out, palm facing Alexander as his ki took on physical form. “I wouldn't recommend you do that,” Sei spoke, not really bothering to say much more than that as he watched the other. “It's not something you should do on school grounds like this,” he continued. He wasn't particularly frightened of the fighter. Since his meeting with She Who Watches, he felt his power increasing greatly each day, simply by leaps and bounds and he was actually fairly certain that he could have been able to take on Jazz if the two fought again.
The other didn't back off, however, simply still charging that energy in his hand. Sei was curious if he was actually going to fire that blast right here, in the middle of the school or not. The young robed android moved to open his eyes then as he looked the fellow over. “Oh. You're number nine on the list,” he spoke as he looked the fellow over. He wasn't particularly impressive, at least not to Sei. The amount of void in him was still relatively high, and as such, he knew that the ki amount was still quite...low. “I don't see what you stand to gain from challenging me. I should be the one challenging you.”
“I just feel the need to knock you down a few pegs. That's all,” the other spoke, watching Sei. “You're new here and you're making waves. I don't like waves,” the man continued. “So I don't really need to have a reason beyond that to fight you. Do I?” he asked, and as he talked, Sei tried to place the name with the face. He wasn't entirely certain what his name was...and that just made this situation all the more amusing for him. “Unless you're just gonna back down right now and prove to everyone that you're just a coward.
The android gave a small shake of his head. “Of course not. I don't have any need to retreat from you. But I'm also not going to fight you out here,” he spoke, watching the other as he continued. “If you want to fight, we'll do so where it's safe for the school.” He didn't really have to announce where. The gravity chamber was the one place where it was safe to fight all out. Its walls were ki-resistant, and it was built solidly enough to resist attacks from just about everyone. Alexander hadn't been able to damage the walls in the slightest, in all the time he'd been there.
The other gave a small grunt, before he eventually let the energy dissipate into the air. “All right. I'll see you there,” he said simply, before turning smartly on his heel and moving back through the school, finding his own way to the gravity chamber. Sei let out a small sigh of frustration as he shook his head. He just wanted to get some rest today but that didn't seem to be on the agenda for him, not that he minded. He would just do what he could do to put that other one down on the ground and then after he was done, finish off whatever other training he felt that he needed before heading home. Hopefully at that point, he'd be able to finally sleep.
His eyes closed for another moment, finally relishing the chance to get a little bit of rest before the day's end. Of course, that's when the bell began to sound, echoing throughout the school, and the android gave a small sound of irritation. Of course. He stood up to his full height, cracking his neck once to try and send a sensation of something through his body to force himself to stay awake for at least a little bit longer. It was difficult for him to say for certain if the entire day was planned around just screwing with him for its entirety, or if he was just having some supremely poor luck. It was probably the latter, but he had no idea just how much influence She Who Watches had in his life.
He rolled his shoulders then as he watched the students pass before him, most of them ignoring him, but he got the occasional sidelong glance from some of them as they passed by. His eyes closed again, merely feeling their presence as he tried to let them all pass unmolested as he didn't want to have to deal with anything else before his own battle that was supposedly about to happen. He felt a flash of movement with his void sense, and opened his eye to see a fist heading toward him. There was no mental reaction from him, simply just his muscles responding to what he saw.
His hand snapped up and caught the transgressor's fist, holding it in place before he clenched his hand, causing audible dry cracking noises to echo throughout the hallway. “Go to the infirmary,” Sei demanded as he watched the boy stumble backward, giving a muted cry, holding his hand from where Sei had broken it. “Your hand is broken.” His tone was even, but to those around him, it seemed to instill a slight sense of fear and he noted that many of them were beginning to move a little more quickly away from him, now. Good. That'd let his day end faster once they were all out of his way. He gave a small sound as he watched the rest of them depart, and soon, the hallways were empty.
“All right. Time to go see about a fight,” the man spoke as he pushed himself off of the wall. The weighted coat he wore still accompanied him, and he made his way through the hallways, heading directly for the gravity chamber. The sooner he was there and the sooner this fight was over, then he could really start to focus on pushing himself too hard. It was a strange line of thought for him, as he'd never been excited about pushing his body too hard. Normally he attempted to stay relatively light so he wouldn't cause any serious harm to his body.
His eyes flickered to the side as he saw some of the other students still leaving, but his zone was cleared. He wondered how some of the other monitors handled things, and if they had any real attachment to their wards. The young android had when he'd first started, but this thing that had begun to happen with him...all thanks to Ayumu...had really started to change the way he looked at a lot of things. He had initially been poised to see if he could take the school over just to see if he could, but now he was rapidly losing interest in doing such. Even still, it had been a goal he'd set, and he recalled that talk he'd had with about such things. Goals were to be set, and to be achieved. Even if your interests and views change, your goals should always remain constant...and he supposed that going up against the guy would be a good test of his power, eventually.
Pausing at the door, he hesitated for only a moment before lifting a hand to open it, pushing the door open as he passed through. On the other side waited the fighter that had been in the hallway, who looked more than a little surprised that Alex had actually shown up. “Sooner than I'd expected you to show up,” the boy spoke, and Sei merely gave a shrug as he set his bag down in the corner, before turning to face him again. “Before we get to it, there's something that I do have to ask you, and it's relatively important.”
The words were quite serious, and Sei gave a small sound, confused. “All right,” he responded evenly, his emerald-eyed gaze on the other. This was not something that he had expected. In honesty, he had expected to get blasted with energy as soon as he'd opened the door, but it appeared that the other wasn't going to resort to such methods in order to win a fight. Sei wasn't certain that others wouldn't stoop to that level, but he was rather glad that this one wasn't, at least. It would make things far easier in the future if the android beat his face in. He wouldn't have to worry about getting jumped from behind later, if he was displaying this level of honor now.
“Well I suppose it's two questions, though one is less important than the other. The less important one is just a curiosity, but leads to the second. Do you even know my name?” he asked, and the Void-user had to give a small sound. He did not, and while he could hazard a guess, he felt that it was much more honest to simply admit the truth. He shook his head slowly, and an amused, though irritated, smirk, appeared on the other's face. “I see. I should have expected that. William. William Waltz. It is good to meet you, Sei, the android.”
The robed android gave a small sound. “I suppose it is good to meet you as well, William Waltz,” he responded, using the full name as he had been addressed. “You are number nine on the list of the strongest in the school, am I right?” he returned, curious. He hoped that he was thinking of the right person, at least. If he wasn't, then it would make it even more obvious that he really had no idea who the person standing before him even was. However, the fellow shook his head, and Alex felt a strange sense of sadness mixed with irritation.
“Not quite, though that does make the second question less in need of an answer, as that answers it fairly well already. I was curious as to how much you put stock into this school, and its hierarchy. Everyone else climbs up the ranks, struggling to get even one step closer, but you've cleared several in almost no time at all. You're not the same as the rest of us. And that's why I think that I should step in and put an end to you. I'm the fifth strongest, Alexander. The top five are on a whole different playing field than the rest. This will let the others know just what you're capable of.”
Sei's eyes widened a little, not realizing that this one was someone who was going to be able to actually pose a threat to him, or so he surmised. He supposed that made sense as to how hew as able to build that ki attack as quickly as he had. He didn't bother to comment on that incident in the hallway, but instead moved to refocus his conversation on the situation they were in right now. "I see. Well then, I suppose I will have to do my very best to give you my all. I wouldn't want you to give back a false report to your superiors," he spoke, the tone taking on a slightly darker edge than he normally held. His right arm extended outward as the ethereal energy of the Void began to surround it.
William did not seem to be impressed at all in the slightest as he watched, curious as to what Alexander was doing. "I had heard that you used something other than ki...but I did not think that I would get to see it so early. I had assumed this was your trump card, not something that you relied on in every fight," he spoke, and took a stance of his own. Sei's stance was virtually nonexistent. The more he used the Void, the less he realized he was relying on actual style and technique over raw power. It was a strange sense for him, but he wasn't about to stop the focus on it, at least not yet. It hadn't served him wrong so far, and so he planned to carry it as far as he needed to.
"You said you planned to bring back a report to your superiors. If I show you my full power at the outset then they'll know already that they're outmatched," Sei spoke, letting his gaze rest for a moment on William. There was no arrogance in his words, just a cold certainty. He watched the other then, his arm tightening as he let the power flow through it. His entire form felt lighter as soon as he let in the power of the Void. It was something that he was starting to become rather fond of, as much as he didn't really want to admit it. His body began to thrum with energy as he continued. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, baiting the other onward.
The young man gave a small sound. "Fine then," William spoke, before he whipped his arm forward, firing off a blast of raw ki, aimed at Sei's chest. The android merely moved his right arm as the blast approached, catching it with his void-covered arm. The blast slammed into his palm as he caught it, and he felt the power radiating outward from it. It was definitely a powerful attack, and he was a little amazed at the might behind it...but it did not bypass Sei's guard. No, instead, the attack, much like others, simply began to wither away as the darkness from his arm wrapped around it, consuming the ki like a voracious predator. It covered the attacking blast, reducing it to that strange, grey liquid that splashed against the ground, sending up small tendrils of smoke. It couldn't quite eat through the ground, which simply showed just how powerful the gravity chamber was.
Sei's gaze flickered from the devoured ground up to William's face, watching in cold amusement at the look of shock that was on his face. "Well then. I suppose that shows you exactly what my gifts can do," Alex spoke, before he clenched his hand, causing the rest of the ki to simply burst into energy, evaporating around them as his hand continued to be wreathed in the Void. "Though I suppose it's my turn to attack, isn't it?" he asked, watching as William began to guard himself, waiting for something to come. The android would extended out his hand, his five fingers separated as he held them out, all pointing toward his target. With a sudden rush of void, the energy burst forth from his fingertips, lancing forward.
William moved then, his body being pierced through by the attack, before his image faded, and Sei's vision was drawn a short distance away, to where William stood. The man looked fine, and so whatever he'd used to dodge must have been something that let him move nearly faster than the eye could follow. An impressive trick. "Not bad," The young android spoke as he turned his head to look at him. "But I wonder how often you can keep that up," he spoke, firing another blast of raw void from his hand at the man. Once more, an after-image remained behind as the other flickered away. Sei frowned as he watched, curious to see if William actually could keep that up time and time again.
He moved, firing yet another bolt of void energy at him, but whatever physical form he thought he'd seen did not last, simply fading away as the others hand. "You're slow." The words came from behind him then, as Sei suddenly felt a crushing blow on his back, sending him stumbling forward. He felt the attack continue as his legs were suddenly swept out from under him. Still, Sei didn't let that end him as he turned in the air, catching the ground with his fingertips before he pushed off the ground, landing a short distance away, staring at William. "That's an interesting thing to note. I wonder if the have any idea just how slow you are. Perhaps you should try to react a little more quickly?"
Sei gave a frown as he gathered that energy in his arm again. "I see. So you avoid combat by moving around and criticize those that don't follow the same style that you do." His gaze moved down to his arm as he felt more and more void being pulled out of himself then. He wasn't anywhere near enough to awaken She Who Watches, but he was tempted to. Instead, he rolled his shoulder. "If the volley wasn't enough to take you down...then perhaps a salvo will be," he growled as he thrust his arm outward again.However, rather than there being just one blast as there had been before, the attack was split into dozens of smaller blasts that all forked outward, like lightning as they struck against the wall.
William gave a small grunt of pain as one of them lanced through his arm, and then another his leg. He had moved, but not quickly enough to avoid the full barrage. His arms began to glow with ki as he forced both of his hands forward, unleashing a barrage of energy at Sei, aiming to cut through the Void Salvo and deal just as much damage in return. The young man gave a bit of a holler as he did so, firing off blast after blast within the room. This was definitely one of the strongest attacks that the young android had fought against before, and even as he let the void cover him, he could feel the attacks piercing through his guard, leaving him just as winded and damaged as his opponent.
"Interesting," Sei spoke as the barrage finally came down. He watched as William panted, struggling for breath now as he tried to get wind back into his lungs after that assault. "You do have to put out a great deal more...effort than I do to achieve a similar result. I wonder if you'd be able to dodge in your condition," he spoke. HIs body was wracked with pain, but he wasn't going to let on to that fact. The moment that he showed his foe that hew as also in pain was the moment he gave William hope. And he couldn't do such if he was going to show him just who was superior, and why. "Let's test this little...theory," he responded, extending his hand outward as the void began to gather there once more. He fired a raw blast of the void directly at William, curious to see if he could even avoid in the condition he was in.
Amazingly, the blast did miss, and Sei gave a small tut in response, not exactly amused by this fact. "Interesting," he repeated, his eyes narrowing a bit. "I suppose it will take more than that to shut you down, won't it?" he asked. Before waiting for a response, he darted forward, pulling back the void-covered arm before he brought it forward, aiming to slam his fist into the other's jaw. There was a slight pause as his fist nearly connected, but once more, that damned after-image technique caused the attack to go wide. He followed, using his void sense to track the man's location as he followed him, now hot on his trail. As soon as William finished moving, Sei was there, leading to him having to dart away again, leaving behind a series of after-images.
However, as the young android watched, he began to see the pattern in the movements, subtle though it was. A slight variation here and there, but as he chased the other down, and he could sense that he was getting more and more exhausted by the moment while Sei, not relying on his own power, stayed just fine. He moved to where he knew William would go next, and threw his knee forward, just as William would land. As he had suspected, the blow struck the other right in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain as he flew backward, slamming into the far wall. Sei watched, amused as blood seemed to trickle from the corner of his mouth. "Playtime is over," he announced.
William panted, struggling to get up to his feet after that attack he'd just taken, moving to brace his ribs with one hand. "What are you going to do?" he asked, wheezing slightly as he watched. "Kill me?" he asked, curious. He didn't know if that was the plan at all, but something told him that Sei might, without realizing what he was doing. He hoped to perhaps bring it to light by announcing it aloud, rather than leaving it in the depths of their minds. "That would fit the path that you're on, after all..." the man spoke, coughing again as a bit of blood seeped out from between his teeth. The android had broken something internally. Not that he particularly cared...but it was still an amusing thought.
The young android shook his head then. "How could you go back to your superiors and tell them anything if I killed you?" he asked, watching with the same cold expression he'd worn the entire time. His hand still thrummed with that energy as the void continued to roll off of him in waves. The dark energy was something that he was beginning to just...utilize more and more, and while before it was something that caused him nothing but harm, the more he did it, the stronger he seemed to feel, until at this point, he almost felt like this was normal. That he should have this power to lord over those weaker than he was. The pain that he normally felt when pulling on the Void was all but gone. He wondered when that change had happened...but he didn't particularly care. He liked this. "You've seen what I can do. Go and tell them. I want to know what their reaction is."
The words fell, and for several moments there was no response. The only sound in the air was William's wheezing as he struggled to breathe. Eventually, the other stood, sliding up against the wall as he watched Sei. "I see," he panted out, leaning against the wall for support. "You don't know how strong you actually are...and you're just using our school to find out. What the hell is wrong with you?" he snarled, even though the motion made him cough a moment later, spitting up more blood from his innards. "You're a monster," he continued, his eyes closed as he tried to get the air to his lungs, even though each breath seemed like it was taking more away.
At his words, Sei gave a small shrug. "Perhaps. I don't really know what waits for me at the end of this path I walk. But I will walk it, as I have no other path to go," he spoke, his tone just as icy and cold as it had been the rest of the time. Speaking it aloud gave him some interesting insight into things, and what he planned to do. He had no idea that this was the path that he'd chosen, but saying it aloud, he realized this is exactly what he was going to do. This was the path that he'd chosen to walk, and he would follow the spiral to its ending- he would go where no one had been before. Ayumu hadn't seemed to have given himself completely over to this power but...he felt like he should.
Of course, it was entirely due to the visitation of She Who Watches, he knew. He knew that down to the deepest core of his being that no matter how much he tried to put her out of his mind, she was there, and it was entirely likely that she was still watching him too, even now. She was waiting for him to make that decision, and she would be the one to lead him along the path. But he wanted to follow her, to learn from her, to draw upon her powre to use in his battles. She was the only one that had given him that insight into what path he should walk and he did not want to turn that away.
William gave another grunt as he took a stumbling step toward the door. "You are a monster," he repeated, making his way toward the door as he did so. He pressed the button to open the door, not bothering to shut off the gravity. "Whatever we have to do to stop you, we will," he muttered, limping as he made his way out.
The young android watched him go, realizing that he now had laid claim to the fifth spot. "I look forward to it."
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